Interview With John Hunter Phillips
Q: How were you first exposed to the music of The Beach Boys and what did it mean to you then?
A: I remember hearing "Surfin'" on a late night radio broadcast in 1961. It was considered to be a rather obscure record, and more of an example of the California hype that was the "up-and-coming" thing of that era, rather than a new "hit" record in the making.
I was living in Connecticut at the time, so it was not something I heard more than once or twice on New england Top 40 stations. However, I took to it immediately. The group sounded very 'home-made' to me - and I think that was part of it's appeal to me. It was very accessible and had that credibility factor going for it. They were just a group of California kids, a sort of garage band, and that made the lyrics all the more "believable" and the music more credible. Plus, "It had a good beat, and you could dance to it", as they used to say to Dick Clark on 'American Bandstand'.
Then "Surfin' Safari" came along and I was hooked on their vocal sound. It was somewhat more sophisticated and catchy than their first release, and I began to tune more into the harmony aspects of their records. I didn't know it then, but Brian Wilson was to begin his tenure as my musical 'mentor'. I didn't know surfing from cottage cheese at the time, but the music enthralled me. I already had my own band, but we were pretty much into instrumentals at that time. (I played sax) It was at this juncture that singing became more a part of our repetoire.
I do remember quite specifically hearing "Surfer Girl" for the first time. I was on a sailing boat with some friends (again; Connecticut in the Summertime) when it came on the radio. I was absolutely 'transported'. The melody line, the harmonies and the "warmth" of Brian's voice on that record just blew me away. From that point on, i wanted to move to California!!!
Q: What does the BB music mean to you now?
A: The music endures and so do the recordings of the original group, and so that music elicits alot of great memories of the 60's. Nowadays, whenever I hear something I've not heard by them before, it continues to reach my soul. Their music is indeed "soul music" in that it is very spiritual - even the uptempo tunes have that aspect. I continue to pay more attentionn to the beautiful background vocal performances than I do to the actual melody line. Brian still continues to blow my mind. I learned so much about harmonic structure from listening to his/their records than I ever did studying at The University of Miami.
Q: What BB albums are you listening to now and why?
A: Oh Gosh, i listen to them all. However, most recently I have found myself listening to 'Sunflower' (which I guess is my favorite album, if I HAD to choose). Dennis had a terrific talent and it was showcased on "Slip On Through" (with it's really cool background vocal arrangemnent), the beautiful "Forever" and others. I also began to appreciate Bruce's talents more on this album too, with "Tears In The Morning".
I also adore "Holland" and so many others. It's very difficult to choose one in particular.
